HEARTBROKEN cat owners desperate to find their missing moggies may be stunned to learn that legally they don’t own their beloved pets.

As the list of missing cats in Swindon grows by the day, a legal technicality means the council does not act in the same way as it would do if the missing animal was a dog.

A spokesman for Swindon Council said: “Cats have a different legal status to dogs, as they are classed as being semi-wild. In law, you can’t actually own a cat.

“As an example of the difference, if you run over a dog you have to report it to the police, whereas that doesn’t apply to cats.

“Cats are classed as free-roaming animals and so are generally not subject to legislation affecting most other domestic animals.

Swindon Borough Council offers free publicity to help re-unite missing or found pets, including cats, with their owners.”

The news has surprised John Warwick, owner of Swindon and District Animal Haven, who said he is inundated with calls about missing cats. He said: “Legally, the council may be right, but I think they are wrong .

“I would always report a run over cat because someone has lost that cat and would be looking for it. It is the decent thing to do.”

John said that he has rehomed about 20 cats in the past month.

“We always get a lot of calls about cats,” he said. “A lot of older cats will go away to die – their bodies start closing down and they will go away somewhere comfortable to die peacefully.

“A lot of the time, cats go missing when their owners go on holiday. Sometimes they are shut away in garages, or they jump in lorries. We’ve had cats that have moved house and then found their way back to their old home.

“Roads are the biggest killer, but you also get cats who are being fed by somebody else and they decide the food is better there and they never return home.”

One such missing cat is Shady, a two-year-old black and white cat who went missing from her home in South Marston nearly two months ago.

She has a prominent bushy tail, golden coloured eyes and is semi-long haired.

She was last seen on July 13 at approximately 7.30am and did not come home that evening.

Owners Lucy Thomas, 25, and Alex Field, 31, are desperate for information on her whereabouts.

Lucy said: “We’ve got two cats, and when Shady went missing our other Rizla was very down, which made us think she wasn’t coming back. She has been missing a long time now.

“She used to go out quite a lot but would always come back and quite regularly as well.

“We have absolutely no idea what has happened because there have been no leads whatsoever and she is the sort of animal that wouldn’t just wander off.”

Shady is spayed and has a chip but may be registered to the Blue Cross where her owners got her as a kitten, where her name was India.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call the Swindon Advertiser on 01793 501809.

For a list of missing cats visit Swindon Council’s website at www.swindon.gov.uk.